UNLIKE BROTHER SPRAQUE, WHO ENJOYED ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE, ODIE CLEGHORN STOOD OUT FOR HIS GOAL-SCORING PROWESS.

Armed with a flashier game than older brother Sprague, Odie Cleghorn was a smooth-skating forward with the ability to bury the puck behind hockey’s top goaltenders night after night.

His career path mimicked that of his brother. Turning pro with the NHA’s Renfrew Millionaires in 1910-11, Odie followed up his rookie season with six outstanding campaigns playing for the Montreal Wanderers. Consistently among the team’s leading marksmen, the right-winger scored 115 goals in 93 games wearing a Wanderers jersey.

With the death of the NHA came a parting of company with Sprague. After sitting out the 1917-18 season, Odie joined the fledgling NHL’s Montreal Canadiens the next fall and continued the offensive exploits that Montreal fans came to expect from him. Cleghorn’s 23 goals tied Newsy Lalonde for the team lead that season.

Shorter and heavier than his tough guy brother, Odie could still take care of himself when things got rough, but he never went looking for trouble, preferring to let his scoring stats do the talking.

Cleghorn finished second in scoring in 1918-19 and was one of the league’s top 10 scorers in three of the next four seasons. The Canadiens challenged for the Stanley Cup in his first year with the team, with Cleghorn scoring two goals in the Finals.

The series fell victim to a worldwide influenza epidemic and play was halted after five games. For the first time since Lord Stanley bought the legendary silver bowl, the trophy was not awarded.

The Cleghorn brothers hooked up again when Sprague joined the Canadiens as team captain in 1921-22, and they finished tied for the Habs scoring lead with 24 points apiece. Two years later, the Canadiens went all the way, capturing their second Stanley Cup in the spring of 1924.

They made it to the Finals again the next season but were defeated by the Victoria Cougars, the western contender for Canadian hockey supremacy. It was the last time a team from outside the NHL would walk away with the Stanley Cup.

In the twilight of his career, the 34-year old Cleghorn accepted an offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the expansion team’s player-coach. With Cleghorn dressing for about half the games, the Pirates finished third in the seven-team NHL, second only to Ottawa Senators and Montreal Maroons.

Playing fewer games with each passing season, Cleghorn directed the Pirates’ fortunes for four years, making it into the playoffs twice. He finished his stint behind the Pittsburgh bench in 1928-29, retiring from hockey and returning to Montreal.

Half of one of hockey’s best-known pair of siblings, Odie Cleghorn passed away on July 13, 1956, hours before he was to attend his older brother’s funeral.